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The curriculum of the Department of English is intended to aid students in developing methods for critical interpretation, to acquaint students with representative works in important periods of English, American, and Anglophone literature, and to introduce students to the main literary genres. Further information about the department, faculty and courses is available online (www.oberlin.edu/english).
Students will receive three hours of Oberlin College credit for a score of 5 on the Advanced Placement Examination in English Literature/Composition or English Language/Composition, and will be eligible for entry into introductory (200-level) courses in English.
Although these small Writing Intensive seminars do not count as part of the English major, they are nonetheless highly recommended as a preliminary to courses in English. They focus on the essential skills of reading, analysis, writing, and discussion. Successful completion of any first-year seminar will count as prerequisite for introductory work in English, as will a Writing Intensive course in any other department, or certification of writing proficiency in any Writing Certification course in the Humanities division.
Lecture courses at the 100 level are intended primarily for non-majors and do not count for Writing Certification, nor for the major in English. Students hoping to do further work in English or literary study in general should normally begin work with a First-Year Seminar and proceed directly to 200-level courses.
200-level courses in English serve as introductions to the major. All English courses above the 100 level are Writing Certification courses.
200-level courses cover a substantial body of texts, provide instruction in the conventions of genre, period, and region as appropriate, and give significant attention to fundamental issues and approaches in critical reading and writing.
Most 200-level courses are designated as Gateway courses, in which students will gain knowledge of approaches to literary study that are important to the discipline of English. The individual focus of each Gateway course is indicated more fully in the course descriptions below.
English majors are required to take two Gateway courses, and should consult with their advisors about making appropriate choices of the Gateway courses. Qualified non-majors are welcome in Gateway courses, as well. Normally, students not wishing to major in English but intending to go on to further work at the advanced level should take at least two 200-level courses, including one Gateway.
Advanced (300-level) courses are primarily intended for English majors who have completed two Gateway courses and for other students who have completed at least two courses at the 200 level, including one Gateway course. Students in advanced courses further develop their approaches to literary study on a more focused topic in the discipline of English. These courses are smaller in size to facilitate more intensive work than the 200-level courses.
English majors are required to enroll in a 400-level course to fulfill the major. A Senior Tutorial, a Senior Seminar, or admission to the Honors Program will fulfill this requirement (see below for Honors). Application for either the Tutorial or Seminar will be required of rising seniors in the second semester of the junior year.
Senior Tutorials allow students to pursue an individual critical project in a small group supervised by a faculty member whose areas of expertise may shape the projects directed. Tutorials are available only to senior English majors.
Senior Seminars offer students (1) an opportunity to focus on a common set of critical issues and works and (2) to conduct significant research leading to a term paper. If spaces remain in Senior Seminars after all senior English majors have been accommodated, they will be available, by application, to other qualified students.
The English major is designed to meet the needs of students with various goals, including those seeking a foundation for postgraduate work or study in fields related to English (e.g., education, communications, editing and publishing, law, theater); those who want a humanistic base in reading, thinking, and writing for a liberal arts education; and those who desire training in English in preparation for graduate study in the field.
Students interested in graduate work in English should be aware that their candidacy will be strengthened by the following: readiness to define a likely direction or area of ongoing scholarly interest; evidence of the ability to conduct successful independent research and extended critical writing; reading knowledge of at least one foreign language; and a more ample distribution of historical period courses than that minimally required by the major. Students should consult with their advisors about the decision to go on for graduate work in English.
Before declaring the major in English, students must complete the following, in consultation with an advisor (a faculty member in the department): a one-page Plan for the Major; a Majors Checklist (available from the department office and web site); and the Declaration of Major form (available from the Office of the Registrar). Although the format of the Plan for the Major is flexible, it should describe the student’s intentions and goals for the major, as well as a strategy for achieving those goals. The student and advisor should re-visit the Plan for the Major several times during the student’s work in the department and revise it as appropriate.
The Department offers two types of majors, regular and concentration majors, described in detail below. The regular major is primarily a course of study within the discipline of English; the concentration majors are interdisciplinary.
Students may count toward the English major (at the 200 level) one college course (up to three credit hours) in non-English-language literature, whether read in the original or in translation. Such a course will not satisfy the distribution requirements for the major (see below).
Students earning lower than a C– in a course may not count that course toward the major or the minor in English.
The regular major in English consists of at least 34 hours, including:
In order to assure cultural breadth, English majors must take at least one course designated as American, one as British, and one as Diversity -- a category that encompasses areas of traditionally under-represented cultures. Furthermore, English majors must take at least one course in each of the following historical periods: Pre-1700, 1700-1900, and Post-1900. An individual course may satisfy several requirements. The Senior Tutorial does not satisfy distribution requirements.
Distribution category designations for individual courses may be found on the department web site and in descriptions below for Introductory and Advanced courses.
English majors are urged, but not required, to take at least one course in poetry and one in drama. Please note, however, that such courses do not satisfy distribution requirements.
Checklists for working out these requirements are available from the department office (Rice 130) or on the website.
There are six interdisciplinary concentration major alternatives to the regular
major. Based in English, these concentrations allow students to bring work in
other disciplines to bear on their work in English.
All concentration majors consist of at least 28 hours in English and 15 hours
outside of English. (28 hours is the correct requirement for a concentration major. The Oberlin College 2008-09 catalog is in error.)
For all concentration majors, courses in English must include:
• two Gateway courses,
• three courses at the 300 level (four for the concentrations in American Literature and Culture, and Modern Culture and Media), and
• a 400-level course -- the Senior Tutorial, a Senior Seminar, or Honors in English.
Concentration majors must satisfy the same distribution
requirements as for the regular major in English (see above).
Specific requirements for concentration majors, in addition to the general requirements
above:
• African-American Studies: in English: 3 courses with strong focus on African-American or Third World literature with a significant treatment of the literature of Africa and/or the African diaspora; Outside English: 15 hours in African-American/Third World Studies courses, including no more than one literature course.
• American Literature and Culture: in English: 4 courses in American literature and culture; Outside English: 15 hours in courses dealing with American culture in History, Art History, African-American Studies, etc.• Creative Writing: in English: 3 courses in 20th-century literature, including one in post-1945 literature; Outside English: 15 hours in the Creative Writing Program, a minimum of 10 hours of which must be in the form of coursework offered for Creative Writing credit by Creative Writing Program Committee faculty.
• Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies: in English: 3 courses with a strong feminist or Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies component; Outside English: 15 hours from courses listed in the catalog under Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies; a GSFS Gateway and Feminist Research Methodologies are required for the concentration; the remainder must be selected from courses listed as elective courses by GSFS or GSFS Advanced seminars.
• Modern Culture and Media: in English: 4 courses dealing with issues in modern culture and media; Outside English: 15 hours in courses dealing with modern culture and media.• Theater and Drama: in English: 3 courses in dramatic literature, playwriting, or other drama or film topic; Outside English: 15 hours (total) in at least two other areas (dramatic literature, theater, film) to be chosen from among courses such as these: courses in Theater and design/technical areas; film courses; other literature courses in translation or in the original language of which the substance is drama.
In consultation with the department chairperson, majors may devise other concentrations
to meet their particular interests. Because concentration majors require more
advance planning than the standard English major, they may not be declared after
the end of the student’s junior year. Students who choose a concentration
major have no automatic entitlement to courses outside the English Department
required for that major.
An English minor consists of at least 15 hours in the English Department including at least:
• 1 Gateway course
• 2 courses at the 300 level
• at least one course in Diversity (DI)
• at least one course in either Pre-1700 or 1700-1900
The Honors in English is an intensive year-long program that will also fulfill
the requirement for a 400-level course for the major. The two-semester program
will include supervised research with a faculty member, submission of a 35-page
essay (or equivalent project), and an oral examination on that project. Successful
work in the Honors program will render a student eligible for consideration
for Honors at graduation, but it does not guarantee such Honors.
Students hoping to do Honors are advised to complete the majority of their major
requirements, including distribution requirements and any specific requirements
for a concentration major, and to have done significant work at the advanced
level (in 300-level courses) by the end of their junior year.
Qualified students may apply for the Honors Program during the second semester of their junior year on the basis of their previous record in English. Students should confer with potential faculty supervisors to design a project proposal. Acceptance into the Honors program will be based on a minimum major GPA of at least 3.33, the availability of faculty supervisors, and the coherence and feasibility of the proposal.
One semester each year, an English Department faculty member serves as co-director of the Danenberg Oberlin-in-London Program, thereby facilitating applications for English majors interested in that semester’s program. For further information see the section of the catalog entitled "London Program."
No more than 14 hours of transfer credit in English literature may be applied to the Oberlin English major. (Note: "English Literature" generally excludes basic composition, introductory creative writing, and more than one course in literature not written in English.) To have transfer credit approval toward the major and/or toward meeting prerequisites for upper-level courses, students should consult the faculty member in charge of Transfer of Credit (inquire at the department office), preferably with syllabi in hand.
Winter Term projects sponsored by English faculty will be offered according to the interests and availability of staff.
Students interested in taking introductory-level courses in expository writing should see the Rhetoric and Composition section of this catalog. Descriptions of writing-oriented courses and procedures to be followed in order to meet the college-wide writing requirements may be found there.
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